Susan Slusser has covered the A’s for the Chronicle for 11 years. She also has worked for the Dallas Morning News, the Orlando Sentinel and the Sacramento Bee, primarily covering baseball and the NBA. She grew up in the Bay Area and in Monterey.

Vlae Kershner, who started in journalism as a $3-a-week highschool sports stringer at age 15, is SFGate.com’s news director. He grew up in the Chicago area as a fourth-generation Cubs fan but pretty much converted to the A’s after he moved West. If the two teams ever meet in the World Series he’ll root for … never mind, it’s the Cubs.